ILGUR: Italian Language, Grammar and Usage Resource

Do you ever get confused when to use essere and when to use stare?

Use of essere:

Essere can express existence, which refers to an intrinsic quality or a condition, both temporary and permanent, and can be followed by an adjective (felice, depresso, annoiato, stanco, allergico, malato, etc.):

Sei una persona magnifica.
You are a wonderful person.

Sono stanchissimo. Posso riposarmi un minuto?
I’m very tired. Do you mind if I rest for a moment?

Come sei brutto con questo maglione rosa!
How ugly you are with that pink sweater on!

Essere can also be used to express a state, indicating the place where one is (as a synonym for the verb trovarsi):

Sarò a Roma il prossimo fine-settimana.
I will be in Rome next week-end.

Non piangere. Sono qui per aiutarti.
Don’t cry. I am here to help you.

Sono in piedi davanti a voi; non mi vedete?
I’m standing still in front of you; can’t you see me?

Quanti saremo alla festa?
How many of us will be at the party?

Cultural Note: In the south of Italy, it’s not uncommon to hear people use ‘stare’ with adjectives, as in “sto stanco”, “sto depresso”, to indicate a temporary condition, as well as with a locative meaning, as in “sto a casa”, “sto per strada”. Nevertheless, these are regional, non-standard usages (derived from the Spanish language) which are considered inappropriate by native speakers themselves in official contexts and in writing.

Use of stare:

Stare indicates a temporary physical condition, as an answer to the question, “Come stai?” (and is followed by an adverb: sto bene/benissimo, sto male/malissimo, sto meglio di ieri, sto peggio di ieri ecc.):

Come stai oggi?
How are you today?

Sto benissimo, grazie!
I’m very well, thanks!

Let’s look at the following example where both verbs are used in contrast:

Come stanno i tuoi genitori? (‘come’=interrogative adverb, so ‘stare’ is used)
Sono esausti; hanno viaggiato tutta la giornata. (‘esausto’=adjective, so ‘essere’ is used)

How are your parents?
They’re exhausted; They travelled all day long.

Stare can also be used to describe a physical position, indicating the stillness and persistence of a condition, as a synonym for the verb ‘restare’ (stay):

Sto qui ad aspettarti da un’ora!
I’ve been waiting here for you for an hour!

Sta’ zitto! Ho mal di testa!
Shut up! [literally: stay silent] I’ve got a headache!

Stava con le mani sui fianchi.
She was akimbo.

With adjectives that can express both intrinsic qualities and physical positions, the contrast in meaning between “essere” and “stare” becomes more evident:

Sii fermo e risoluto e avrai successo in ogni situazione.
Be firm and resolute and you’ll succeed every time.

Sta’ fermo un attimo! Mi stai innervosendo!
Hold still for a moment! You are annoying me!

In the following example, we can see a clear contrast between the indication of a position and the persistence of that position:

Dov’è seduta tua madre? Non la vedo.
Where is your mother seated? I can’t see her.

Dille di stare seduta ancora un po’.
Tell her to stay seated a little longer.

Other grammatical uses of stare and essere:

Stare is used to form the present and past progressive (il presente progressivo and il passato progressivo):

Sto andando al supermercato.
I’m going to the supermarket. (That is, you are going right now)

Non ti arrabbiare! Stavamo solo scherzando!
Don’t be mad! We were only joking!

Essere is used, along with avere, as the auxiliary verb in compound tenses such as the passato prossimo:

Sono stato alla biblioteca oggi.
I was at the library today.

Sono arrivati alle 5 di mattina.
They arrived at 5am.

NB: Take note that stato is the past participle for essere and stare.

Essere is also used in passive constructions:

Le piccole squadre come la nostra sono sempre penalizzate!
Small teams like ours are always penalised!

Stare per + infinitive means to be about to do something:

Il treno sta per partire.
The train is about to depart.

created and edited by Vittorio Tavini
and Keith Preble

One of the most common “mistakes” that speakers of Italian make is confusing the usage of visitare and the verb expression, andare/venire a trovare qualcuno.

In Italian, visitare means to visit but in specific circumstances and contexts. Be careful when using it to describe visiting people, because it gives the impression of a visit to or by your doctor and generally means to examine or to see.  If you say that you’re going to visit Maria and use visitare,  it gives the impression that Maria is your doctor and is giving you a check-up — see the examples below:

Oggi mio nonno ha preso un appuntamento dal medico. Vuole essere visitato dato che non sta molto bene.
Today my grandfather made an appointment at the doctor’s. He wants to be examined since he is not feeling well.

But, you can use visitare to mean to visit when you talk about going to cities, towns, museums, attractions, etc:

Quando sei andato a Roma, hai visitato molti musei interessanti?
When you went to Rome, did you visit many interesting museums?

As you know, in Italian the preposition, a, precedes cities and town (Vado a Londra | I am going to London).  With visitare, it is a common error to use the preposition, a, but this must be avoided with visitare since it is transitive (with the direct objects — those cities and towns — are receiving the action of the verb):

Sono andato a Londra e ad Amsterdam. Hai mai visitato Londra? È bellissima!
I went to London and Amsterdam. Did you ever visit London? It’s very beautiful!

When talking about visiting people, use andare/venire a trovare qualcuno, which literally means “to go/to come to find someone“. However, the usage between the two differs:

1. When you’re speaking to the person to whom you are visiting (or plan to visit or have visited, etc.), you use venire a trovare
2. When you’re talking about visiting someone, and you are not addressing the person to whom you plan to visit directly, use andare a trovare.

Note the placement of the object pronoun — it generally attaches to the infinitive, trovare. Let’s look at some examples:

Marta: Ho parlato con Luigi! È molto ansioso!
Marta: I spoke with Luigi. He’s very anxious!

Roberto: La madre di Luigi andrà presto a trovarlo?
Robert: Luigi’s mom is visiting him soon?

Marta: Che fai questa estate?
Marta: What are you doing this summer?

Roberto: Vado a trovare Luigi. Passa un’estate a Barcellona, e mi ha invitato a passare l’estate con lui.
Roberto: I’m going to visit Luigi. He’s spending a summer in Barcelona, and he invited me to spend the summer with him.

Marta: Dov’è andato Marco?
Marta: Where did Marco go?

Roberto: Marco è andato a trovare Luisa. Ha deciso di andare perché non è mai stato a Palermo.
Roberto: Marco visited Luisa. He decided to go because he has never been to Palermo.

Marta: Non ci vediamo più.
Marta: We do not see each other any more.

Roberto: Vieni a trovarmi! Mi manchi!
Roberto: Visit me! I miss you!

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Andare and venire are two of the most important verbs in Italian, and they creep up in conversation and in reading quite a bit. However, it wasn’t until recently when I used them incorrectly during an Italian conversation class, that I thought that it was a good topic to discuss.

In English, we’re pretty loose with how we use coming and going, but in Italian, you have to be careful which you chose because it can affect the meaning of your sentences. Let’s look at what these two verbs mean:

1. Andare means “to go“, but more specifically it is movement towards a place. It’s important to note that the person to whom you are speaking is generally not included of your movement.
   

   Vado al cinema.
   I’m going to the cinema.

   When followed by an infinitive, the preposition, a, must be used: andare a + infinitive.

2. Venire means “to come“, but more specifically, it means moving and going towards a place where the person to whom you are speaking is located.
   

   Vengo a Londra.
   I’m coming to London.
   (where the person to whom you are speaking is already located)

   When followed by an infinitive, the preposition, a, must be used: venire a + infinitive.

Sometimes, seeing the verbs used in their context can help to explain better the grammar — let’s look at this conversation below between two friends, Marta and Enrico:

Marta: Enrico, vai al cinema stasera?

Marta: Enrico, are you going to the cinema tonight?

Enrico: Sì, certo. Devo vedere il nuovo film di Tarantino. Volete venire?

Enrico: Yes, of course. I have to see the new Tarantino film. Do you want come?

Marta: Beato te. Purtroppo non possiamo venire. Mia suocera viene da Milano stasera, e mio marito e io andiamo a cenare fuori con lei.

Marta: Lucky you. Unfortunately, we can’t come. My mother-in-law is coming from Milan this evening, and my husband and I are going to dine out with her.

Enrico: Peccato che non veniate al cinema.

Enrico: It’s a pity that you are not coming.

Marta: Forse mio marito e io ci andremo questo fine settimana. Buon film e divertiti!

Marta: Perhaps my husband and I will go this weekend. Enjoy the film and enjoy yourself!

In the first sentence, if Marta had said vieni instead of vai, she would have been implying that she, too, would have been at the cinema. Using andare, signals that she and Enrico will not be at the same location.

In the second sentence, Enrico asks “Volete venire?“, which means “Do you want to come with me to the theater?” If Enrico had asked “Volete andare?“, what he is really asking is “Do you also want to go to the movies, but not with me?” You might ask “Vuoi andare?” if you are asking if the person really want to go to see the film, not with the speaker.

When Marta says “non possiamo venire” what she is saying is: “We are not able to come and join you at the theater” (you being Enrico). If she had used andare, she would have been saying “we are not able to go to see the movie” at any theater, regardless if it was the one that Enrico would be at or not.

When a person comes from one place and goes to another, you use venire da, which means “I left from one place and will arrive where the person the speaker is addressing is located.” For example, if you are in Rome, and I said, “Vengo da Milano“, it means “I’ve left from Milan and am coming to you, the speaker, who is in Rome“. In the example above, Marta’s mother-in-law is arriving from Milan to Marta’s location.

In the second to last sentence, Enrico says “…non veniate al cinema” he is saying “It’s a pity that you are not coming to join me at the theater“. If andare were used, the meaning changes: “It’s a pity that you are not going to some theater to see this movie“.

In the last statement, Marta says “…ci andiamo questo weekend“, meaning “Perhaps we’ll go this weekend” meaning “Perhaps we’ll go to see the movie at some cinema this weekend but you won’t be there, Enrico, because you’ve already seen the movie and presumably you don’t want to see it a second time.” If Marta used veniamo, she would have been implying that Enrico, too, might joining them.

Italian has a lot of those words that seem like they might mean the same thing in English but in reality, are not. They are called false friends, and one of these friends is the transitive verb, assumere, which means:

to hire, to employ
to take something on, such as a responsibility, a task, etc.
to assume, as in to assume the shape of something

The past participle of assumere is assunto. Avere is used in compound tenses. Assumere is irregular in the passato remoto. Go to Italian-Verbs.com to see the verb conjugated in all its tenses and moods.

Let’s look at some examples of the verb’s usage:

Il capo mi ha avvisato che devo assumere dieci nuovi assistenti per questo nuovo progetto.

The boss informed me that I have to hire 10 new employees for this new project.

Perchè Marcello ha assunto responsabilità di organizzare la nostra vacanza? È meglio se lo aiutiamo?

Why did Marcello assume the responsibility for organizing our vacation? Isn’t it better if we help?

L’uomo misterioso ha assunto la forma di un cane per nascondersi dalla polizia.

The myterious man assumed the form of a dog in order to hide from the police.

To assume in the sense of to suppose, when one might say “He assumes that we are going to Europe,” requires different verbs –  supporre or presumere.

Let’s look at some examples:

Presumo che non ci vediamo più?

I assume that we are not going to see each other anymore?

Hai supposto che avessi rubato i soldi perché ho avuto un passato difficile?

You assumed that I had stolen the money because I had a difficult past?

Presumere and supporre both have irregular past participles: presunto and supposto, respectively. Avere is used for both verbs in compound tenses.

Here are two useful verbs in Italian, sopportare and supportare, that can often confuse learners because of the similarities of their spelling and pronunciation.  Because the verbs have different meanings, it’s important to understand how they are used and their meaning in English in order to avoid confusion:

The verb, sopportare (pp: sopportato) means to support, as in: to tolerate, to bear, to stand, to put up with someone or something.

This verb can also mean to support in the context of supporting weight or traffic (such as describing roads and bridges, architectural structures, etc.):

Il tetto non riesce a sopportare il peso della struttura.

The roof is not able to support the weight of the structure.

The verb, supportare (pp: supportato) means to support,  as in: to support, to back.

Let’s look at some examples:

Non riesco a sopportare tuo fratello. È una persona cattiva!

I can’t stand your brother. He is a wicked person!

Luisa sopporta la visione del programma solamente perché a te piace molto

Luisa tolerates watching the program only because you like it a lot.

Ti supporto e la tua decisione di tornare all’università.

I support you and your decision to return to college.

La società non supporta più questo programma.

The company doesn’t support this program anymore.

NB: Avere is used in compound tenses for both verbs.